PM

The Federal Government will go ahead and build Sydney's second airport after the Sydney Airport Group turned down its option to take on the project. Costs for the Western Sydney Airport at Badgerys Creek will be announced in next week's Budget with estimates running at about $6 billion. Some residents think the decision shows the project is not financially viable and should be abandoned. Pilots say that with fog often an issue in that area - the Government needs to ensure the new airport is equipped with the most sophisticated landing guidance technology.

Small dairy towns across regional Victoria and Tasmania are in shock today with the news their major employer, dairy processor Murray Goulburn, is shutting up shop. The factories, at Rochester and Kiewa in Victoria, and Edith Creek in Tasmania collectively employ 360 people.

In a bizarre case in South Australia, a family has been hospitalised after suspected poisoning from coral in their fish tank. Authorities say toxic coral spores were released after the tank had been cleaned last night, and the family fell ill some hours later. Emergency teams have quarantined the house and are continuing to decontaminate the property. The incident has shocked coral experts who say incidents like these are very rare.

Winners at an awards ceremony to honour the legacy of murdered journalist James Foley have used the occasion to draw attention to the last remaining American missing in Syria. Austin Tice has not been heard from since September 2012. But campaigners insist Tice is still alive.

Salmon company Tassal hopes to start farming fish at Okehampton Bay on Tasmania's East coast by August, an earlier start date than locals expected. Many locals say they don't want the fish farms because they are worried about the impact on the environment.

Gene editing technologies are fast becoming a reality, so much so that the Australian Academy of Science is calling for a national discussion around how to best manage it. Scientists are on the cusp of being able to wipe out or reduce the population of species which cause environmental damage or carry huge public health risks. But bio-ethics experts say Australia needs to tighten its biohazard regulations before this new technology is fully embraced.

When you think of a heart or lung transplant patient, chances are an image of a teenager doesn't come to mind, yet over a third of lung transplant recipients are under the age of 35. Two young Sydney men say the lack of awareness inspired them to launch a website to support young Australians whose budding lives depend on an organ transplant. Sadly it was too late for an 18-year-old woman who they recently met via their website - she died today while waiting for a heart.

Today the former Chief Minister of the Northern Territory Adam Giles told Royal Commissioner Mick Gooda, he wouldn't have expected to be told or briefed if there had been a death in custody while he headed Government. Mr Giles' comments mirrored his broader evidence about not having been briefed on the problems in youth detention while he was Chief Minister.

How do you watch television when you're blind? It's particularly difficult in Australia, with Vision Australia suggesting programs are becoming increasingly visual. In the United States, audio description has been available for decades, and it's also on TV in the UK, Canada and New Zealand. A government working group is now looking into the service. The ABC has held trials and warns it would have 'budgetary implications in a constrained financial environment'. While the commercial TV industry says a range of technical and cost issues make it a difficult proposition, campaigners say broadcasters are putting economics above human rights.

The Taliban have announced the start of their spring offensive, promising military assaults on coalition and Afghan security forces, and boasting control over more than half of the country. The recent attack on an army base in Mazar-i-Sharif in northern Afghanistan that killed more than 140 soldiers would seem to warn of a tough fighting season ahead. Russia has also entered the frame, supplying weapons to the Taliban in a move that has angered US officials who are supporting the Afghan government.